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Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Choosing Your Favourite French Village, by Janice Chung

2013 Le Village Préferé des Francais: Eguisheim

For the past few months throughout Francethe residents of certain French villages have been jumping for joy.
Why? They are now in the running for the next “Le Village Préferé des Francais.”
And choosing the favourite village of the French in 2018 is done by millions of
television viewers throughout France. Stephane Bern, a well known French
journalist and television host, will announce the winner on the annual
telecast June 19.

2014 Le Village Préferé des Francais: Cordes-sur-Ciel

“Le Village Préferé des Francais” – the
favourite village of the French airs on the French television channel France 2.
Since 2012 the television station has run the competition and in the final
running there are about a dozen which make the finals.

I’m surprised there is
this competition as there is already “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France” (Most
beautiful villages in France). However, in this contest, rather than a committee
deciding who wins, it’s the television audience who votes. Not surprisingly,
many of the villages already have the designation of “Le Plus Beau Village de
France.”

Competition

In 2016, 1 village from each of the
13 regions were vying for the title. Viewers can vote by phone or SMS and as
you can imagine, the night the winner was announcement the show brought in
millions of viewers.

I’ve been fortunate to have visited
many of the winning villages and while they are definitely beautiful, I’m sure
a lot of villages were surprised by the choices. I mean, how can you pick your
“favourite”? It’s like picking your favourite child, isn’t it? They’re all
beautiful. Take a look at some of these beauties. ... continuedhere

Janice Chunghas travelled to France more than 30
times. She’s had many unique experiences in France, beyond the ones typically
listed in tour books and she loves to share theseexperienceswith others.
Check out her blog France Travel Trips here.

Brian Henry has been a book editor, writer, and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He teaches creative writing at Ryerson University. He also leads weekly creative writing courses in Burlington, Mississauga, Oakville and Georgetown and conducts Saturday workshops throughout Ontario. His proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published.